Thunder in the Park

December 30, 2013

Had my first track day in the 200SX a couple of weeks ago at Donington Park circuit. The track day was held on the National track configuration, which is generally used in BTCC and small cc formula series.

In preparation for the track day I replaced the front brake discs and pads, and brake fluid. A must for the track day as the previous set up would fade within 5 minutes of spirited driving.

Other modifications that I’ve carried out but haven’t mentioned previously are an ebay special FMIC and an Apex Performance Manual Boost Controller running at 10psi. Power must be slightly improved as it tops out at 152mph over the standard 142mph.

The tyres for the day were recently fitted Bridgestone Turanza T001; an economic tyre I had fitted before I got a second car for commuting.

The track day consisted of six 20 minute sessions throughout the day. Only the novice group had free spaces available at the time so traffic did become an issue in some of the sessions, as you could only overtake on the left hand side. Despite the nice weather the track was still damp in the morning sessions but it dried up by lunchtime. The car was incredibly easy to drive, very balanced with only a hint of understeer. The brakes also showed no signs of fade, although the sessions were relatively short.

The GoPro ran out of juice for the last sessions so I could not measure the lap times, but the fastest lap measured was in the 5th session and was a 1:34.40.